The present invention relates to a data storage device. In particular, the present invention relates to a housing structure for a data storage device.
Disc drives are used to store digitally encoded information and include a disc stack for encoding information and a head stack assembly supporting transducer elements for reading and/or writing data to the discs in the disc stack. Disc stacks include a plurality of discs which are supported for co-rotation by a spindle motor. Head stack assembly is rotated by a voice coil motor to position heads relative to selected data tracks for read and write operations
Components of the disc drive including the spindle motor and head stack assembly are supported within a housing structure including a base chassis and cover. The spindle motor and head stack assembly are secured relative to the base chassis and cover to limit vibrational movement of the spindle motor and head stack assembly for consistent head placement. The dimensions of the housing of the disc drive are controlled by form factor dimensions. Spindle motor dimensions and the dimensions of the housing assembly contribute to form factor height dimensions.
Drive capacity is related to the number of discs supported by the spindle motor. The number of discs supported by the spindle motor increases the height dimension of the spindle motor. Adequate spindle clearance between the spindle motor and housing is necessary for rotation of the discs supported by the spindle motor. Thicker housing components reduce allowable spindle height and spindle clearance for form factor dimensions. In particular, composite cover constructions including a dampening layer for dissipating vibrational motion increase cover dimensions which interferes with or diminishes space available for spindle height and spindle clearance. The present invention addresses these and other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
The present invention relates to a housing structure for a disc drive including a rigid housing having opposed inner and outer surfaces and a spindle opening. A spindle cap is sized to fit in the spindle opening and includes opposed inner and outer surfaces. The inner surface of the spindle cap is raised above or spaced from the inner surface of the rigid housing for spindle clearance.